


beginning of the end

by akaparalian



Series: From Tumblr [6]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, M/M, Promptfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-16
Updated: 2013-03-16
Packaged: 2017-12-05 12:22:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/723262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akaparalian/pseuds/akaparalian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Hey, hermano,” he says cheerfully, his mind whirring. Okay, so he’s <i>pretty</i> sure Jaime’s on-mode. Pretty sure. Then again, Blue Beetle of the future never really wasted much time calling people, so –</p>
            </blockquote>





	beginning of the end

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt from fudayk: "As I request from everyone, I would love to see modedJaime/Bart." Originally posted on my Tumblr. I may have had a little bit too much fun with this.

It’s probably close to eleven when his phone – given to him in a businesslike way that hid absolutely no fondness whatsoever by Dick Grayson a couple of days ago – goes off, buzzing insistently against his leg. He glances down at it, yawning, and considers ignoring it, but then he sees the name flashing at him from the already-scratched screen and picks it up without further thought. “Hey, hermano,” he says cheerfully, his mind whirring. Okay, so he’s  _pretty_ sure Jaime’s on-mode. Pretty sure. Then again, Blue Beetle of the future never really wasted much time calling people, so –

“Hey, Bart,” Jaime replies, but it sounds – not. Not Jaime, not quite – but not like someone who’s on mode, either. Then again, the Reach’ll be doing their best to fake the idea that Jaime’s not moded for as long as they possibly can, he knows that. And it probably wouldn’t be so obviously not-Jaime to anyone that isn’t him, but Bart pays attention. In a way, Bart’s entire purpose in coming back here has been to pay attention.

Not that he’s doing a great job at the moment. “…wondering if you’d be up for that sometime,” Jaime’s saying, and Bart sits back and huffs a nearly-silent sigh.

“Come again?” he says brightly; he’s better at this acting stuff than Jaime’s scarab or whoever the hell else is in control. Jaime ( _scarabnotJaimescarabit’snotJaimeinthererememberthat_ ) laughs at him lightly, tinny and  _wrong_  (even more wrong than it would be, given the 99% probability that he’s moded) over the phone.

“I said, I think we should go out sometime,” he says easily, and Bart’s heart about stops. Oh God, no. Not  _now_. Not when he’s not even  _him_  – hell, that scarab is one perverse little shit; he’s sure it knows, it’s probably better than Jaime at interpreting human interaction, and probably saw right through any half-assed attempts Bart might have made to hide that he was flirting (which, he grudgingly admits to himself, were few and far between).

“You mean like-?” he starts, and he’s quite proud of himself for how  _even_  he manages to keep his voice, how innocently, unknowingly bashful. Oh, God, _bashful,_  he’s going to puke just thinking about this any longer – sure, he can act, he’s great at the acting part, he’s built up his freaking  _character_  to within an inch of its life but this is too much, it’s too personal. When did he let it get personal?

“Like a date, yeah,” Jaime says, and he has to give the scarab props, because it’s learning; his voice has nerves just creeping into the edge of it, clear enough over the phone but not overdone. Not Oscar-worthy (he had to look that phrase up, freaking slang in this time is the weirdest), not yet, but it’s getting there.

“Uh,” Bart stalls, twisting the hem of his shirt over and over through his fingers. “I mean, sure, I. If you’re up to it. That’d be, that’d be crash,” he says, laughing, and the nerves in  _his_  voice – that’s not acting, not even a little bit. Oh  _God_ , what is he getting himself into-?

“Sounds great,” Jaime says evenly, easily, his voice more colored with gratitude now than nervousness. “So, I’ll see you tomorrow, and we can decide on, uh, locations and stuff then?”

“You totally haven’t thought this through at all, have you?” Bart laughs again, and that – that’s Jaime too, sort of. More Jaime than the methodical planning style Bart’s always associated with the Reach; maybe-

“Absolutely not,” Jaime says with a chuckle, then, “well, uh, see you later, my mom’s- I have to, uh, go. Bye. See you later,” and Bart wilts again; no, that’s not him, it’s just not quite  _right._

He says his own goodbye, hangs up, flops backward, sighs;  _stupid, stupid, shouldn’t get my hopes up, even for a second,_  he berates himself before rolling over to attempt sleep.

Maybe they’re  _both_  completely moded.


End file.
